STAY CONNECTED

Paraguay is a country of vast natural resources. Clean energy production is a key activity in the country, as is highly automated agriculture and livestock production. The country is crisscrossed by several rivers that form the River Plate Basin.

The Paraguayan economy is small and open, heavily dependent on agricultural production and foreign trade, particularly soybean and beef, which comprised nearly 40% of exports in 2013. However, high levels of poverty and inequality remain major development challenges. Although poverty rates have declined over the past decade, one in four Paraguayans is still poor while one in 10 is extremely poor.

Over the past decade, the country has made significant progress on the macroeconomic front, with fiscal and monetary improvements and the implementation of major social reforms. These reforms include free access to primary health care and basic education and the expansion of conditional cash transfer programs to benefit vulnerable populations.

In 2015, economic growth is expected to reach 4.5%. International reserves continue at historically high levels, totaling more than US$ 6.6 billion in March 2015. The exchange rate has remained stable in recent years, with a slight tendency toward depreciation in 2015 as compared with the previous year.

The Government of Paraguay has prepared the first National Development Plan for the period 2014-2030 in an effort to eliminate extreme poverty and promote the income growth of the poorest 40% of the population.

The National Development Plan is organized around three pillars: i) poverty reduction and social development; inclusive economic growth; and iii) Paraguay’s inclusion in global markets. Moreover, it supports a medium-term economic framework emphasizing sustainable fiscal policies; improved tax collection; increased effectiveness of social protection policies and their targeting; and broader financial inclusion.

Last Updated: Apr 20, 2015

The World Bank Group and the Government of Paraguay agreed on a new Country Partnership Strategy for 2015-2018. This strategy supports the country’s efforts to reduce extreme poverty to 9% and promote the growth of income of the poorest 40% of the population.

Financial and technical assistance and knowledge-sharing programs focus on three pillars:

Strengthening of resilience to risks and volatility.

Promotion of the provision of goods and services to the poorest citizens.

Promotion of inclusive markets.

The current portfolio includes five investment projects in infrastructure, rural development, energy and modernization of the water and sanitation sector, as well as three programmatic loans to support the public sector.

These projects are:

With financing for US$ 137.5 million, the Sustainable Rural Development Project aims to contribute to improving the quality of life of small farmers and indigenous communities in the departments of San Pedro, Caaguazú, Canindeyú, Caazapá and Concepción. The initiative supports community organizations and encourages self-governance to enhance natural resource management in an effort to improve the population’s socioeconomic conditions.

The Road Maintenance Project seeks to improve road infrastructure and maintenance in the country. The US$ 74-million initiative implements a sustainable management strategy for the improvement, modernization and management of the road network through the strategic, transparent use of limited available resources.

The Project to Modernize the Water and Sanitation Sector, with funding for US$ 64 million, aims to improve sector management and water and sanitation services, as well as to increase access to sanitation services in Metropolitan Asunción. The project also works to expand sustainable access to water and sanitation in rural communities.

Additionally, Paraguay has received four grants through the World Bank for the following:

Social accountability of the Tekoporá Program: the Development Information and Resource Center (CIRD) will implement this program, with support from the World Bank and the Global Partnership for Social Accountability (GPSA). The program is a key initiative of the new 2015-2018 Country Partnership Strategy, whose objectives include improved social accountability through citizen empowerment for increased oversight of public service delivery. The main goal of the US$ 600,000 grant is to strengthen the voice of participants of the Tekoporá Program to improve the program’s effectiveness and efficiency as well as to promote citizen oversight of program activities and results.

Strengthening of the Legislative Process: The objective of this project is to strengthen the oversight capacity of the Monitoring and Evaluation Unit of the Budget Management Office of the National Congress to monitor the quality of annual budget allocations and spending, as well as to strengthen the capacity of the Congress to develop and disseminate legislation. This grant is for US$ 435,000.

Last Updated: Oct 09, 2014

In the recent past, the World Bank program in Paraguay provided support to government initiatives in two areas:

Water and Sanitation

Significant progress has been made in the provision of drinking water services to rural areas. The Fourth Water Supply and Sanitation Project, for a total amount of US$40 million, has helped the government expand water provision to rural populations. By June-2007, 300 water systems had been built and seven water supply systems had been expanded or remodeled. Sixty of these water systems are operating in indigenous communities.

In addition, nearly 25,000 latrines have been built. A key feature of this program of support is its emphasis on fostering competition in the water supply market, with five private service providers operating today, while all other rural water systems are managed by the beneficiary communities which are responsible for operation and maintenance of the systems.

Rural Development

The Bank is helping to solve major agricultural and natural resource problems in San Pedro and Caaguazu. It also assists small farmers and indigenous communities living in the area in the creation of sustainable and diversified agricultural production systems.

The program encourages the participation of rural communities in the management of natural resources and the appropriate use of land. To this end, the Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development Project benefited small farmers who received training to prepare participatory micro-catchments plans. The goal is for farmers to improve productivity and adopt natural resource conservation measures.

Previously, a similar project helped 13,077 small producers in the areas of Alto Paraná and northern Itapúa.